Gray’s 13 keep GU on Huskies’ heels

Connecticut raced out to leads of 13-2, 24-13 and 33-23 before Gonzaga roared back to move in front, 37-36, late in the first half. A.J. Price’s two free throws with 4.1 seconds left that gave UConn a 38-37 edge at halftime in the Battle in Seattle.

Steven Gray came off the bench to score 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting (he had 15 on the stat monitor when I began writing this, but it’s been changed). He was also GU’s top rebounder with four, but the second-ranked Huskies had the upperhand on that statistic 18-14. Jeremy Pargo added 10 points. Micah Downs, Josh Heytvelt and Austin Daye each had two fouls.

UConn center Hasheem Thabeet (6 points, 1 rebound) also sat with two fouls. Reserve post Gavin Edwards gave the Huskies a boost with six points and six rebounds. Price topped Connecticut with eight points and five of his teammates had at least four points.